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Anyone suffering from one of the types of hemorrhoid conditions – external or internal – should attempt a home hemorrhoid treatment remedy. An external occurrence, while painful, does not necessarily require a visit to a doctor unless acute, where blood clotting appears. Internal hemorrhoids usually cause no pain but can create quite an itch while causing a pressure-like sensation making it very difficult to clean the anus area properly. Internal conditions may also lead to bleeding sand possibly protruding from the anus as well. Internal are typically classified as :

• First Degree – where there is no bulging from the anus

• Second Degree – bulging occurs only during bowel movements

• Third Degree – bulge during bowel movements but need to be manually pushed back into the anus

• Fourth Degree – bulging outside the anus is constant

What Hemorrhoid Treatment Can Be Used at Home?

First, the best and basic home hemorrhoid treatment involves a change in bowel habits. This would include preventing hemorrhoids from become worse through making sure to gently, but thoroughly, blot the anus after every bowel movement. Always use unscented, white paper that you may moisten just a bit with water or one of many commercially available cleansing agents. You can also try to use a commercially available medicated pad as well. Always avoid rubbing and never use a soap containing dyes and perfumes. This will only exacerbate the situation.

Symptom Relief

A great hemorrhoid treatment method toward obtaining temporary symptom relief is to apply ice to the area several times per day, Another recommended home treatment is the application of moist heat in the form of dampened towels using warm water. Also apply several times or, if possible, sit in a warm sitz bath several times per day.

Sitz Bath

This is a type of bath derives its name from the German, sitzen, which means to sit. A person immerses only up to the hips and buttocks. Although this bath can be either hot or cold, the hot version of this hydrotherapy technique provides help to increase blood flow to the pelvic area, thus reducing inflammation. It is especially as an effective hemorrhoid treatment used at home. Prepare a stitz bath for hemorrhoid treatment by filling a basin full enough to cover the hips and buttocks at least up to the navel area of the abdomen. Use a basin where sitting in the water is possible, while also using an additional basin with water a little warmer to immerse the feet. If this not available, make use of a standard bathtub for your sitz bath home hemorrhoid treatment.

It’s Also What Is Eaten

Associative hemorrhoid treatments should include increasing both fiber and water intake to the daily diet. Taking stool softeners is also recommended as this prevents constipation allowing for easier bowel movements and less irritation. A change in habits can lead to hemorrhoid treatment relief of many of the agonizing symptoms for both types. These practices may keep hemorrhoids from becoming larger and may even induce shrinkage, but they will not go away.

In March 2008, a joint agreement was announced between the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Freddie Mac, and Andrew Cuomo, the New York Attorney General, to institute the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC. This code was intended to curb some of the worst excesses of appraisers acting on behalf of lenders by ensuring that appraisals reflected the accurate worth of property and that no undue influence was exerted on appraisers by lenders, real estate brokers, or local real estate agents. Initial reaction to the announcement was overwhelmingly positive; the HVCC was praised as a positive step during the aftermath of the subprime lending collapse and lauded as a much-needed change in the way appraisals were handled. The HVCC went into effect in May 2009, but most lending institutions began implementing it in advance of its effective date.

Unintended results were seen nearly immediately. Because the HVCC requires lenders to have no material influence over the appraisal process, independent appraisal management companies (AMCs) were formed to serve as middlemen between lending institutions and appraisers. Lenders still were paying about the same amount for their appraisals, but a sizable portion of that amount was going to the AMCs, so appraisers were being paid considerably less for the same work. This pay cut meant that less qualified and less experienced appraisers were being hired by the AMCs, resulting in less accurate appraisals. While the discrepancies were due to less competent appraisers rather than pressure from the lenders, the net effect of an inaccurate appraisal was precisely the same. Even when highly qualified appraisers were employed, the reduced payment per appraisal meant that those appraisers had to perform more property assessments in the same amount of time or suffer a pay cut; this also resulted in less accurate property appraisal. No oversight mechanism currently exists for AMCs, so these inaccurate appraisals are generally not reviewed or corrected.

One provision of the HVCC could potentially penalize lenders and appraisers for appraisals that overstate the property’s value. Fear of these penalties has led to perhaps the worst unintended side effect of all: the artificial devaluation of property. Many experts believe that the HVCC has actually prolonged the housing market slump by creating pressure for appraisers to bring in lower assessments of worth. Appraisers determine the value of property by looking at comparable properties and obtaining an average cost that similar homes or properties have sold for; in the current housing market, a percentage of those sales may have been due to foreclosure. The pressure to bring in lower appraisals has resulted in situations where homes are appraised at far less than their value on the housing market, preventing buyers from obtaining a mortgage for the fair value of the home and forcing owners to either sell their home at an artificially low price, or not sell it at all.

Consumer costs have risen by an estimated $2.8 billion due to the HVCC, according to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. Since an entire level of bureaucracy has been added to the appraisal process, the additional cost is passed on to home buyers. Additionally, many home sales are lost due to the artificially low appraisals, which prevent financing from being approved. Experts believe that, far from addressing the real estate industry’s woes, the HVCC has actually contributed to them and prolonged the housing market slump.

Consumer protection agencies and housing industry leaders have organized petitions calling for a reversal of some of the HVCC’s provisions. On June 25, 2009, Congressman Travis Childers, a Mississippi Democrat, and Congressman Gary Miller, a California Republican, introduced a bipartisan bill that would impose an eighteen month moratorium on the provisions of the HVCC. This bill has been under review in the House Committee on Financial Services for some time, but promises relief for homeowners and new home buyers from the arbitrary and ill-conceived provisions of the HVCC.

We live in an era that values immediate satisfaction. Drive-through employees are docked for taking too many seconds to provide a hot, cheap meal. We don’t even have to spend time driving to a movie theater or rental store these days – we can stream nearly any entertainment we want from the web or order it directly from our TV. Yet, even in this interconnected era, certain things are better when they’re done slowly and thoroughly. Employee engagement is one of those items.

A long-term, outcome-based approach is useful for improving employee engagement. By examining a case study, this article will outline the benefits of doing multiple waves of employee engagement research.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is often lumped together with employee satisfaction or staff appreciation, but it’s a much more useful measurement to help encourage in your workforce. In fact, since it drives key business indicators like sales performance and profit, employee engagement is a crucial ingredient in business success. Engaged employees are passionate, dedicated, loyal, and feel a positive emotional connection with their employer. They usually exceed expectations and provide unparalleled customer service. In fact, they are often your brand’s best advocates, so they bring in new (and often similarly engaged and enthusiastic) customers. Given the importance of employee engagement, many businesses are conducting engagement research to identify the key drivers in their organization and take action to increase engagement over time.

Improving Employee Engagement Around the Globe

Coca-Cola Hellenic, is an international bottler of non-alcoholic beverages that operates in 28 countries. Their business is people-intensive and executives at Coca-Cola Hellenic have recognized that employee engagement is key to meeting their goal of being the undisputed leader in all of their markets. In the initial wave of research, Coca-Cola Hellenic employees were surveyed to establish baseline engagement and to identify key drivers of engagement. The analysis identified a clear set of suggested actions to improve engagement.

After the analysis was conducted, Coca-Cola Hellenic held action taking workshops with managers and HR representatives to show how to effectively respond to employee feedback.

Eighteen months later, a second wave of engagement research was administered to determine the efficacy of the suggested actions, and to measure shifts in employee perceptions. In this second wave of research, Coca-Cola Hellenic saw significant improvement in employee engagement.

To coordinate employee engagement across their organization and provide managers with actions to improve it, Coca-Cola Hellenic implemented the use of EEM (Employee Engagement Management). This tool allows managers to see how their area of focus is performing compared to other divisions or the company as a whole, provides an easy action planning process to create and track progress overtime, and houses best practice actions and tips for improving engagement.

Since implementing the EEM hub, employee engagement at Coca-Cola Hellenic has risen steadily. Additionally, analysis of Coca-Cola Hellenics’ business outcome performance metrics, found that higher levels of employee engagement are linked to higher productivity levels, lower turnover rate, and fewer accidents on site.

Given how many traditional business indicators are tied to employee engagement, it’s no surprise that forward-thinking organizations are tracking engagement as diligently as they track other important indicators. Ongoing assessment and management of employee engagement sends the message to employees that their work is valued. When management consistently asks how it can help employees feel enthusiastic and happy at work, employees feel supported and respected. The message at Coca-Cola Hellenic is that management is dedicated to employee engagement for the long haul. This dynamic is what will distinguish the most successful firms of the future.

Long ago Human Resources (HR) was nothing more than a buzzword. The tyrannical boss was forever imposing deadlines, salary cuts, and unfair treatment onto their unsuspecting workers. This type of strategy planning could only fail when the blue-collar people of the world finally worked out that it was they, the meager and humble worker-bee, that truly made the world go round. In these current times, good employees are hard to come by and even harder to keep – strategy planning is essential. If you research an effective HR strategy ahead of time, that takes into account your most valuable assets, you’ll be saving money, enhancing productivity and growing a more positive working environment!

Your Most Valuable Asset.

Believe it or not, it is not your product, nor is it your enormous brain or fantastic location – its your workers! Without them nothing happens – you can’t do it all! Without strategic management, retention of your staff can be difficult. Going through the ordeal of replacing an unhappy staff member can cost up to three times their original annual salary.

What if you were to divert some of that proposed money into a HR strategy that addressed the needs of your current workers? On the people that already know your business and have a vested interest in seeing it succeed? Is it too much to ask to make them happy? If you took a chance and tried it, some problems that may occur could be excessive productivity, increased sales, more satisfied customers and lower staff turnover…hmm, sounds like a problem well worth having!

What Workers Really Want.

An unhappy employee feels like they aren’t going anywhere fast, they feel bored and unchallenged by their roles and responsibilities. They may have coworker issues, or a socially ignorant manager, or bigger problems that are going on in the outside world. For some reason or another, the unhappy employee is just that… unhappy. And without intervention through strategic management they will leave or at least stop working!

A happy worker on the other hand, envisions a workplace where they are valued and feel appreciated, where they feel a shared ownership in the brand or company. Opportunities for professional advancement, training in and access to new technologies and a pay cheque that reflects their contribution to the business also helps! On a more human level, workers just want to communicate and feel heard once in a while. They’d love it if the boss would acknowledge that they have a life outside the office and be flexible for family and social commitments.

How You Can Deliver.

First and foremost, if you have a large company and are not trained in human resources yourself, get an expert in strategic management in to look after it. Whether on a contract basis, or a permanent addition to your team, an expert in HR strategy will ultimately save you time and money. Even if you don’t have a huge number of employees in your own small business there are lots of ways to get your staff morale flying high above the bar and raise the stakes for your success! Try being more flexible, both with hours and job roles.

Why not let your employees delegate jobs to each other, sharing extra workloads and encouraging teamwork through lending expertise? Some successful business let their staff work a staggered workday; some starting at 5am and finishing by 2pm and others coming in when they wake up sometime in the afternoon! It’s radical, but not everyone operates on a normal office day cycle. Try thanking your workers. Money is great, and bonuses never go astray but remember the power of the well-timed and genuine thanks. It’s a rarity these days. And it will make your workers happy.

Two acceptable procedures may provide a hemorrhoid cure for people suffering the condition – fixative an hemorroidectomy.

Fixative Procedure for Hemorrhoid Cure is Non-Surgical

A hemorrhoid cure method known as fixative is designed to reduce the blood flow to a hemorrhoid with the result goal being it shrinks and goes away. These various non-surgical procedures have been successfully used to eliminate most small and many large internal hemorrhoids. Procedures include rubber band litigation and coagulation therapy. There are termed “fixative” procedures for hemorrhoid cure because their effect is to prevent blood carrying veins from bulging in the anal canal.

Surgery May Prove Best Method for Hemorrhoid Cure

Severe situations may leave no alternative for hemorrhoid cure other than surgical removal, known as hemorroidectomy. This is the most successful hemorrhoid cure for large internal ones. Small hemorrhoids are often removed surgically when several are present an all other alternative attempts to treat the condition have not been successful. When bleeding cannot be controlled, whether external or internal, surgery is the only course of action.

Trying a Fixative Hemorrhoid Cure Is Less Invasive and Less Costly

While small hemorrhoid occurrences can be treated through effective home remedies, fixative procedures may offer a hemorrhoid cure. There are some considerations and comparisons to examine when considering a method for hemorrhoid cure:

• Surgery usually produces more effective long-term results than fixative methods can

• Surgery is considerably more costly than fixative methods plus requires much longer recovery times

• Fixative procedures present smaller risks with less pain experienced while requiring limited time away from a normal daily routine

• Although the fixative procedure of rubber band litigation is recorded as providing the better results, it does present some complications including experiencing discomfort and pain.

Rubber Band Litigation is a Successful Hemorrhoid Cure

Used commonly as a preferred hemorrhoid cure for medium-sized ones, rubber band litigation experiences a good success rate. A band is placed around the hemorrhoid constricting any blood flow that makes it shrink eventually falling off along with the band. Symptoms begin to wane in most patients after eight to 10 days. However, hemorrhoids may return requiring another litigation procedure to affect a cure.

Use of Infrared Photocoagulations Offers Small Hemorrhoid Cure

During an infrared photocoagulation procedure, a physician employs the use of a device creating a high-intensity infrared beam of light. The heat from this light causes scar tissue cutting off any supply of blood to the affected area. The hemorrhoid dies while the scar tissue holds nearby veins in place preventing any bulge out into the anal canal.

The difference between the two fixative procedures for hemorrhoid cure lie in that symptoms seem to improve more quickly, and last longer, with rubber band litigation. The benefit from photocoagulation is less pain experienced. Also, there are a number of risks associated with fixative procedures that include debilitating pain preventing any return to a normal routine for several days. Also, pain may accompany urinating for a temporary period of time following implementation of a fixative hemorrhoid cure.

The most effective hemorrhoid cure is surgery but success will depend on a change in daily bowel habits.

Part of any successful home treatment for hemorrhoid relief involves a change in daily bowel habits. This involves not only attempts to reduce pain providing effective hemorrhoid relief, but also enact daily procedures to prevent the condition from worsening.

Proper Daily Care

Do not use designer-styled toilet paper infused with perfumes and dyes. If used, these stylized papers can cause greater irritation to an already annoying situation. Only use white paper that you should also moisten a little bit. You can use one of the many available cleansing products when using toilet paper. Or, try one of the available medicated pads. But, never rub! Dab gently in a blotting type action to thoroughly clean the anus after a bowel movement.

Ice It Down

A recommended treatment for temporary hemorrhoid relief is to apply an ice pack to the area several times per day. Another popular treatment for hemorrhoid relief is to use a sitz bath, where a hemorrhoid sufferer sits in warm water that covers up through the pelvic area. The warm water helps increase blood flow while reducing inflammation.

Eat More Fiber

To obtain maximum results from any home treatment for hemorrhoid relief, introducing increased levels of fiber into the daily diet is not only highly recommended, but necessary as well. Add to this an increase in daily water consumption along with use of a stool softener to reduce irritation during bowel movements.

Other Treatments For Hemorrhoid Relief

When home-based treatments for hemorrhoid relief fail to work, you need to consult a physician. There are two medically-based treatments – fixative and hemorroidectomy – that can be attempted to provide the necessary hemorrhoid relief sought.

Fixative Procedures are Non-Surgical

Two types of fixative procedures implemented providing hemorrhoid relief are rubber band litigation and photocoagulation. The first employs a rubber band to constrict any blood flow to the affected area. The result goal is the hemorrhoid dies and falls off along with the band. The second fixative procedure for hemorrhoid relief is where a doctor uses a device that emits and infrared light beam on the affected area. Heat from the light produces scar tissue cutting off any blood supply causing the hemorrhoid to die.

There are different pros and cons for using either treatment to gain hemorrhoid relief. Rubber band litigation cause a good deal of discomfort and pain, however, symptoms abate more quickly and results seem to last longer than those associated with photocoagulation. But, the former causes little pain experienced by a patient when used as treatment for hemorrhoid relief.

Surgery is the most effective treatment for hemorrhoid relief. However, use of any treatment will only be successful through the change in daily habits such as making sure the stool is softened providing easier bowel movements. Increased fiber and fluid intake should produce excellent results using these treatments for hemorrhoid relief.

No one likes paying for home insurance, but it’s a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn’t mean you have to pay through the nose for it though – try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by.

– Shop Around

By comparing prices from several insurance companies, you’ll probably be able to reduce your premiums by a substantial amount. This may seem obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either just renew their current policy, or get only one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites will automatically compare dozens of policies for you, making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.

– Buy online

If you buy your policy online you can often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices, because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.

– Combine your buildings and contents policies

Many insurers will give you a discount if you take out both types of home insurance with them, and this usually works out cheaper than getting the two kinds of policies from different companies.

– Pay upfront

Although most insurers let you pay your premium in monthly instalments, many will charge interest for this. If you can afford to pay a full year’s premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the long run.

– Don’t claim for small amounts

Making many small claims can increase your insurance costs, as your insurer may see you as a greater risk and increase your premiums. You will also lose any no claims discount your policy has. Of course, you’re entitled to claim for anything your policy covers, but ask yourself if making a small claim is really worth the hassle and possible future costs.

– Voluntary excess

This is related to the last point. Insurance policies feature something known as ‘excess’, which basically means that the policy won’t pay out on claims below a certain value. On some policies, if you choose to raise your excess to a higher level, then your premiums will be lower.

– Increase your home security

Beefing up your home security with better door locks, window locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems can all result in lower premiums. Ask your insurer what you could do to get extra discounts.

– Reduce your cover

Many policies feature benefits that you might not need, such as cover for personal possessions while travelling, or ‘free’ legal advice. Look through your policy and see what parts of it you really need – by cutting your cover down to size you may be able to reduce your premium.

Home insurance is most often required of home owners, but it is also practically necessary. Lenders expect homeowners to insure the value of their home as part of the process to obtain financing. Since homeowner loans are based on secured property, which protects the lender, the lender wants to feel secure in the event the home is damaged or has insurance related issues.

A common approach to home insurance buying is to compare quotes and consider only the lowest premium rates. Certainly, finding a low rate home insurance product is important, but so is protecting the most valued asset most people own in their lifetime. The challenge is that many insurance providers work with buyers to cut corners in order to offer lower rate plans. Cutting corners can include coverage reduction or less protection than is necessary.

There are several aspects to a thorough home insurance plan. These include comprehensive dwelling protection, personal valuable protection, external building protection, and injury and liability protection. Comprehensive building protection should cover the replacement cost of the home structure. This is where some insurance providers cut corners. The replacement cost of a home could be significantly more than the home’s purchase price as it is affected by present day labor and materials costs to rebuild. Insurance that has too low of a replacement cost estimate may result in not enough protection to replace the house as it was.

Home insurance usually includes personal items protection as well. This is often estimated based on the number of rooms in the house and a standard rate per room. However, people that maintain more expensive items in home might need more adequate personal items protection.

Properties that include greenhouses, sheds, or other external buildings must also incorporate protection that covers that external structure. Additionally, personal injury and liability protection are common elements of home insurance plans. Many lenders and legal jurisdictions require a certain level of liability coverage to cover the costs if someone is injured falling downstairs or in some other manner within the home.

Again, the important thing for home buyers or homeowners is to remember than cheaper is not always better. Thorough protection is peace of mind and having a peace of mind should be worth a few extra dollars in monthly premiums. Be cautious about working with a provider who uses coverage reduction as a way to cut costs to a bare minimum.

Loss of life, pets, property, and business are just a few of the tragedies that hurricanes leave in their wake. The following tips will help you prepare for hurricane season.

Have a plan:

Know what to expect. Sit down and develop a plan with your family and/or employees. Consider these questions in your plan:

1. What are the hazards in your community? Could nearby bodies of water flood? Are there trees that could fall?

2. What is the safest area of your building in the event of a hurricane? Also consider evacuating to another location if the home or office is not the safest option. Be informed about which areas will likely serve as hurricane shelters in your community.

3. Are you covered? Set up a time to review your building or home’s insurance policy with your agent to see if it covers hurricane damage.

4. What escape routes will be used? Take into consideration any road closures that may take effect due to hurricane damage.

5. Have a friend or family member that lives outside of your region serve as the primary contact before and during an emergency event. With your main point of contact fielding calls, you’ll be able to focus on your safety during the storm.

6. Plan for your pets. Will they stay with you or be placed into a kennel when hurricane notices are aired?

7. Post important phone numbers in a memorable, high-visibility area. Include the numbers for your insurance claims office, family members, business contacts, and hurricane damage restoration specialist.

Preparation can help prevent the anxiety of restoration. Materials may be purchased in advance and stored in a garage or storage room, eliminating the need to rush to a home improvement store. Making a to-do list can help make sure you’ve covered your bases:

1. Protect any areas of the home or building that have glass with hurricane shutters. Don’t have shutters? Board up these areas with plywood instead.

2. Secure outdoor gas tanks and furniture so they do not float or blow away or become damaged. Take special care to secure boats and trailers.

3. Park vehicles inside a garage or appropriate storage facility. Make sure any cars that may be driven have full tanks of gas.

4. Move valuable items away from the windows. If the building has more than one level, move items to the upper level to prevent water damage.

5. Fill the bathtub or extra sinks with water. If your home or building no longer has water service, you will have a little something extra.

Plan to Recover:

After the storm, call your insurance claims office as soon as possible, so that a hurricane damage assessment may be completed. After the claims adjuster has visited, contact a restoration specialist.

Restoration specialists can dry documents, photos, and property to prevent mold damage. They can also eliminate lingering harmful molds. Hiring damage restoration specialists ensures a safer building, faster business continuity, and the chance to focus on getting your life back to normal.